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Many of the financial advisors I coach are very concerned about wasting their time. But who isn't? Those same advisors want to get more referred business, especially from their networking efforts. No one wants to waste their time if the ROI isn't worth it.
I’ve been teaching advisors how to network strategically since 2005 and have written a Wall Street Journal best-selling book, now published in seven languages, called The 29% Solution on business networking. I can confidently say that some forms of networking produce a higher ROI for referrals than others.
And yes, networking is still happening during COVID-19.
For the purposes of this article, let’s compare two types of networking: external and internal. External networking means connecting with people who are not in your current network. Due to social distancing, this could mean connecting with new people on social media. External networking typically gives a low ROI from the referral perspective but a high ROI from the connection perspective. You'll make many more connections for yourself and for others with your external networking efforts, but you won’t bring in many, if any, referrals for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, external networking can offer enormous value, but not so much when it comes to referrals.
To network for referrals (even now) and save time, practice internal networking. Internal networking is with those already in your network. This kind of networking is efficient, more profitable and deserves more of your time to produce referrals.
Since some of you might think referrals are taboo because of COVID-19, let’s look at how it can be done.
Recently my client, Beth, was struggling with staying visible during the pandemic without coming off as being pushy, and she wanted to be sensitive to the issues people are facing. I helped her to see that although she had reached out to her clients and engaged them well during this crisis, many others don’t have an advisor to answer their questions. There are even some who may be completely disappointed with how their advisor is handling this situation. Through my coaching, we developed a plan for her to host a Zoom happy-hour call for her family and friends (a piece of her internal network) to answer their questions and concerns about today’s financial climate.
As a result, two people reached out to her for additional help. After the call, she then emailed everyone a recent article she had written and encouraged them to pass it along to people they think might need it. Instantly, several family members forwarded the article to their friends. Before this, her family had not been engaged in helping her in this way.
I encouraged Beth to work inside her network because that’s where she has people who know, like and trust her. Since networking is all about helping each other and people tend to help people they trust and you already have these people in your network, why not spend more time with them? Why not spend more time, especially now, with people who already know you, like you and trust you? I’m certain that if you spend more time with mature relationships that you have already developed, you’ll get a much higher ROI on your networking investment and at a much faster pace. I help my clients to make it happen all the time.
External networking puts you in front of people who don’t know you. The relationship is new. There’s no trust, no credibility and, as a result, generally no referrals. You’ll also need to spend a great deal of time nurturing and growing those new relationships before you can ever expect to get anything back.
The moral of this story is simple: You can and should continue to network even though you’re working from home. Focus on helping others. Spend your time with the right people, your internal network. Lastly, people need you and those who trust you are very willing to help share your value.
Michelle R. Donovan is a coach, speaker and co-owner of Productivity Uncorked LLC, a coaching firm that helps financial advisors increase their referrals and get more done in their day. She has written a Wall Street Journal Best Selling book, The 29% Solution (published in seven languages) and an Amazon Best Selling book, A Woman’s Way: Empowering Female Financial Advisors to Authentically Lead and Flourish in a Man’s World. To schedule a free 30-minute call with Michelle, reach out to her at [email protected].
Read more articles by Michelle R. Donovan
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
